Serbia
Serbian Nationalists Aim to Block Pro-eu Government
Serbia's general election gives the president, Boris Tadic, an eight-point lead but nationalist parties could form majority coalition
Q&A: Serbian Elections
The background to the first parliamentary and local elections since Kosovo declared independence
Turkey and Sweden Seal Final Places With Nervous Victories
There were few surprises away from Wembley as Turkey, Sweden, Portugal and Serbia all made it to Euro 2008
Corrupt, Maneuvered, Expendable Balkans – Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The good English and French friends of Serbia: the epitome of irresponsibility, the embodiment of immorality, and the paragons of unproven argumentation, unjustified accusations, and baseless indictments.
Law Chief 'delaying Serbian Corruption Case'
Attorney general is using her powers to delay another major overseas corruption case, the Guardian has learned
The Historical Victory of Kosova
2008 Serbia will soon look like 1991 Yugoslavia, and Voivodina and Sanjak will be the next to secede.
EU's Favoured Candidate Wins Serbia Poll
President Boris Tadic, a pro-western liberal, has won a renewed five-year term
'Undertaker' Close to Power in Serbia
A former cemeteries manager known as the undertaker stands his best chance of becoming head of state when Serbia votes tomorrow in a fateful presidential election.
'Undertaker' Has Serbia Within His Grasp
Tomorrow's presidential poll is too close to call· Fears of return to isolation if nationalist is elected
EU Offers Serbs Trade and Travel Deal Before Poll
European governments last night offered Serbia a trade and travel pact in an attempt to secure a victory for a pro-western democrat in this weekend's Serbian presidential election
Kosovans Rally to Demand Independence From Serbia
About 3,000 Kosovans took part in a pro-independence rally in the capital, Pristina, today as their government vowed to break away permanently from Serbia early next year
Killers of Serbian Pm Zoran Djindjic Given 40 Years in Jail
The former commander of a notorious paramilitary unit was today convicted of assassinating Serbia's first democratically elected prime minister, Zoran Djindjic.
From Pariah State to Kitsch Victory: How a Balkan Ballad Showed Europe a New Serbia
Belgrade parties wildly after Eurovision triumph - So glad it was not some war song, admits TV chief
Serbian Alliance Blocks Radicals From Power
Serbia's pro-democratic parties have struck a deal to form a new government that would block the radical ultranationalists from power, Serbian media reported today.
Serbian Leaders Reach Agreement on Pro-western Coalition
EU promises membership talks after last-minute deal - Nationalist Kostunica to remain prime minister
Extreme Nationalist Elected Speaker of Serbian Parliament
Acting PM deserts alliance of democratic forces - Setback to EU hopes of pro-western government
Serbia's Chairmanship of the Council of Europe.
Serbia is taking up chairmanship of the Council of Europe. But why isn't anyone talking about human rights? By George Monbiot
Serbia Jails Death Squad Men for Srebrenica Killings
First Belgrade convictions for 1995 massacre - Defendants condemned by own video evidence
Serbia Prepares for Coalition Tussle
Serbia's future within Europe today remained in the balance after an extreme nationalist party won the most votes in the country's general election.
Nationalists Triumph in Serbian Elections
Extreme nationalists led by a former warlord on trial for crimes against humanity romped to a comfortable victory yesterday in Serbia's most critical general election in years. But the Serbian Radical party's election triumph, six points ahead of their liberal pro-European rivals, left the extremists probably unable to cobble together a coalition government.
Integration or Isolation? Serbs Go to Polls With Rivals Neck and Neck
Serbia goes to the polls on Sunday for a crucial election that could return the pivotal Balkan state to nationalist instability or open up better prospects of integration with the EU and the west.
War Crimes Tribunal Orders Force-feeding of Serbian Warlord
The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague last night ordered the force-feeding of a Serbian warlord and senior politician who has been on hunger strike in custody for almost a month.
Decision on Kosovan Independence to Be Postponed
· Delay prompted by fears over Serbian nationalism · Proposal to be announced after Belgrade elections
Serb Move May Trigger New War
The prime minister of the Serbian half of Bosnia has called for a referendum enabling the Serbs of Bosnia to secede, an act that could trigger a new war and spell the end of the state of Bosnia.
Serbs at Low Ebb As They Mark Loss to Turks
On the grimmest day in the Serbian calendar, Dejan recalled today the epic defeat more than 600 years ago as freshly as if it occurred within the 25-year-old's living memory.
Europe's Newest State Wins Seal of Approval From Poll Monitors
· Montenegro celebrates despite Serbian protests · Solana dampens down ambition to join EU
Montenegro Confirms Independence
Montenegro's state electoral commission today confirmed the republic would split from Serbia and establish a new independent Balkan state.
Montenegro Vote Finally Seals Death of Yugoslavia
· 56% opt for independence amid huge turnout · Tensions high as leader of pro-Serbia camp cries foul
Montenegro Vote Finally Seals Death of Yugoslavia
· 56% opt for independence amid huge turnout · Tensions high as leader of pro-Serbia camp cries foul
Serbia Cannot Escape Curse of Mladic
If Montenegro were to vote to secede from Serbia at the weekend and finally screw down the coffin lid on the corpse of Yugoslavia, General Ratko Mladic would be an apt choice as pallbearer and gravedigger-in-chief. By Simon Tisdall
EU Punishes Serbia for Mladic's Freedom
· Accession talks cancelled over PM's failure to act · Government on brink of collapse as deputy quits
EU Halts Serbia Entry Talks Over Mladic
The European Union today broke off talks on EU membership for Serbia and Montenegro over Belgrade's failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
EU Tells Serbia: No Mladic, No Entry
The European Union today suspended membership talks with Serbia over its failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Mladic is the UN tribunal's second most wanted war crimes suspect from the Yugoslav wars after Radovan...
Serbian War Criminal Kills Himself in Hague Prison
Milan Babic, a central figure in the early stages of the Serbian wars against the rest of Yugoslavia, killed himself at the weekend while detained at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Montenegro Fights to Change Rules for Independence Vote
· EU says referendum needs 55% majority to be valid · Serbian nationalists warn of war if split approved
To Brussels ... Via The Hague
The fate of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, will determine Serbia's future in Europe, writes Ian Black.
EU Warns Serbia Over Mladic
Serbia's EU entry negotiations will be halted unless it fully cooperates with attempts to bring the fugitive war leader General Ratko Mladic to justice, the European commission's head of enlargement warned today.
Serbian General Still 'at Large'
The chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said today that the Serbian General Ratko Mladic "remains at large".
Ashdown Orders New Crackdown in Bosnia
Nine sacked as governor targets Serbian war crimes suspects.
Battle Over the Bridge of Lost Souls
Serbian authorities accused of neglect as monument to massacre of Muslims during war in Bosnia crumbles.
Serbian President's Car Rammed
A vehicle carrying Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, was repeatedly rammed by a car while travelling through Belgrade, his office said yesterday.
Serbia Accused of Blocking War Crimes Trials
British defence officials have conceded that military action to bring Serb and Croat war crimes suspects to trial would probably fail because of the sophisticated support network surrounding them.
'We Can't Forget'
Twelve years ago, Ed Vulliamy first revealed the horrors of Omarska, a Serbian concentration camp in Bosnia, to a stunned world. This summer the survivors returned to the place where they were tortured and raped, their friends and families murdered. He joined them.
Serbian Reformers Toast Victory
A reformist keen on improving relations with the EU and the US was poised last night to become president of Serbia after defeating an ultra-nationalist supporter of Slobodan Milosevic. Boris Tadic, the former defence minister, took 53.5% of the vote, to 45% for Tomislav Nikolic of the...
Serbians Offered Choice Between Past and Future
After 18 months with no head of state Serbia faces a crucial choice tomorrow at the presidential elections, a ballot seen as the country's most important since Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown four years ago. In what is being billed as a choice between the past and the future, Tomislav...
Hardliner Looks Set to Win Poll in Serbia
After 18 months without a head of state, Serbia looks likely to back an extreme nationalist to be president in tomorrow's first-round vote. Tomislav Nikolic, a former undertaker who campaigns for the Greater Serbia project that brought the country four lost wars under Slobodan Milosevic,...
Brazilians capture men's Serbia & Montenegro FIVB Open
After two events of "cashing" second-place checks, top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos regained their gold medal form on Sunday (May 30) in capturing the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event for the second title of the 2004 international season.
Nationalist Serb Pm Risks Isolation Abroad
Serbia appeared to be heading for renewed international isolation last night.
Karadzic 'has Safe Haven' in Belgrade
Serbia sheltering 15 war crimes suspects, says Hague prosecutor.
Serb Chief Says Sorry to Croats
Serbian rebel leader from the early stages of the 90s wars in the former Yugoslavia is convicted of ethnic persecution after delivering unprecedented apology to his "brother Croats".
Serb Democrats Urged to Join Forces
Serbia's riven reformist parties were under strong international pressure yesterday to bury their rivalries and agree on a new coalition to try to banish the threat from extremists who emerged strongest from the general election. Stunned by the triumph of the extremist Serbian Radical...
Serbian Election Victory for War Crimes Suspect's Party
Nationalist extremists led by a suspected war criminal in custody in The Hague scored a clear victory in general elections in Serbia yesterday, dealing a huge setback to the prospects for stable democracy and western-oriented policy in the Balkan state. The Serbian Radical party led by...
Serb Leader Says Sorry to Bosnia
Eight years after a war that left more than 200,000 Bosnians dead and 2 million driven from their homes, a Serbian leader visited the Bosnian capital yesterday and for the first time said sorry. Svetozar Marovic, president of the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, admitted that the...
Kickback claims hit Italian left
Pressure was growing on leaders of the Italian left yesterday over allegations that they took massive kickbacks when Telecom Italia bought a chunk of Telekom Serbia during Slobodan Milosevic's rule.
Atrocity at Bistrica Beach
A gunman's brutal attack on a group of Serbian children swimming in a Kosovan river has plunged the troubled region into further crisis, writes Ian Traynor.
In cold blood
In March 1999, Serbian paramilitaries gunned down 19 women and children in the Kosovan town of Podujevo in a brutal act of ethnic cleansing. Amazingly, five children survived. This week, four of them left their new home in Manchester and travelled to Belgrade to testify against one of the men who is accused of trying to kill them.
Body of Ex-serb President Found
Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Yugoslavia, is to be questioned about the murder of a former president of Serbia, whose body was discovered yesterday, three years after he went missing, authorities in Belgrade announced. Ivan Stambolic's body was found in a grave on a mountain in...
Milosevic Ally Pleads Not Guilty at Hague
A Serbian ultra-nationalist and former ally of Slobodan Milosevic today pleaded not guilty to ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. Vojislav Seselj, 48, is accused of directing paramilitary troops who allegedly murdered and tortured non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and...
Focus: Death of a Balkan Hero
Serbia's mafia warlords showed they will stop at nothing to protect their criminal empire when they assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - burying the country's best chance of escaping from the dark age of Milosevic. Report by Ian Traynor in Zagreb and Dejan Anastasijevic in Belgrade.
Gang Bosses Elude Hunt for Killers of Serbian Pm
As the Serbian authorities were announcing yesterday that they had rounded up some 200 people in connection with the assassination of the prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, there was little sign of life at the green-roofed mansion on Silerova Street. A cobbled lane running between one-storey...
How the West Killed Djindjic
The West killed Serbia's Prime Minister since January 2001, Zoran Djindjic. By forcing him, at times against his better judgment, to surrender one more war criminal, to pursue yet another mobster, to eliminate the remaining subsidies that rendered tolerable the drab and destitute lives of Serbs - the West cast Djindjic as its lackey.
Zoran Djindjic
The murder in Belgrade of the Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic has deprived Serbia of its most capable and daring politician. His tireless organisational skills proved absolutely critical at the high point of his career, when the Democratic Opposition of Serbia reform alliance mobilised millions of people to topple the former dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, in October 2000.
Serbian leader assassinated
Two assassins gunned down the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, in broad daylight in the centre of Belgrade yesterday, leaving Serbia leaderless and plunging the Balkans into a bleak and dangerous period of uncertainty.
Serbian Prime Minister Gunned Down in Street
Serbia was under a state of emergency last night after the assassination of its reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic plunged the Balkans into renewed crisis. A government statement blamed his murder on organised criminals trying to to avert a clampdown on their activities and throw the...
Serbian Pm Shot Dead
· Zoran Djindjic killed in Belgrade
· Two held after shooting
Milosevic's wife to be tried in Belgrade for abuse of office
Mirjana Markovic, the wife of the former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, is to go on trial next week in Belgrade charged with abuse of office. She will be tried with several Milosevic cronies who presided over rampant corruption and embezzlement in the 1990s.
'War Criminals' Blamed for Attack on Serbia's Pm
Former paramilitaries from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s are suspected of Friday's attempt on the life of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, who narrowly escaped death when a lorry apparently tried to crash into his motorcade. A similarly staged attempt on the life of the...
Memories of Happier Days
Days after the name Yugoslavia was dropped by Serbia and Montenegro, the nostalgia industry is in full swing, writes Ian Traynor.
Hurd's Telecom Privatisation Unravels
A controversial privatisation arranged by the sometime British foreign secretary Lord Hurd with Slobodan Milosevic unravelled yesterday when the Serbian government said it was buying back a hefty share of its national telecommunications network from Italy.
Retiring Serb Leader Faces Tribunal
Indicted war criminal's immunity ends. The Serbian president and alleged war criminal Milan Milutinovic came under pressure yesterday to join his former boss Slobodan Milosevic in the Dutch detention cells of the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
Serbia Heads for Third Invalid Election Result
Bitter weather and bickering keep voters from polls.
Disillusion and Extremism Mar Serbian Election
The nationalist vote may put Kostunica back in power if a low turnout does not invalidate the poll.
Milosevic Tried to Build Greater Serbia, Trial Told
Slobodan Milosevic wanted to carve a "Greater Serbia" out of the ruins of Yugoslavia, the first head of state to testify at the Hague war crimes tribunal said yesterday. Stipe Mesic, the president of Croatia, took over the rotating Yugoslav presidency in July 1991 shortly before Tito's...
Apathy clouds Serbian election
The moderate nationalist Vojislav Kostunica and the western-backed economist Miroljub Labus will face each other in a run-off for the Serbian presidency later this month, but it is feared that apathy could invalidate the election and plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.
Poll Puts Serbs in Line for Power Play
Serbs went to the polls yesterday for the first presidential election since the indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic was toppled two years ago. But far from bringing order to the post-Milosevic mess of politics in Serbia, the election is likely to intensify the struggle between the...
Hurd faces questions on Serbian deal
Italian prosecutors investigating allegations of bribery and embezzlement relating to the privatisation of Serbia's telephone network want to question Lord Hurd, the former Tory Foreign Secretary.
UK targeted in Serb inquiry
Italian investigation into Telekom privatisation puts NatWest Markets in spotlight. Italian fraud investigators looking into allegations of corruption over the part-privatisation of Serbia's telephone monopoly under the Milosevic regime have turned their attention to the UK.
Yugoslavia votes for its own abolition
The Yugoslav parliament yesterday voted to abolish the Balkan federation and replace it with a looser union between its last remaining members, Serbia and Montenegro. The new state is due to be formed by the end of the year.
Serbia and Montenegro in New Union
Europe was celebrating a rare success in the Balkans last night after brokering a new union between Serbia and Montenegro to replace federal Yugoslavia and avoid another war in the continent's troubled south-eastern corner. "We have taken an important step forward for the stability of the...
A nation in denial
Timothy Garton Ash argues that we need a Serbian soap opera as well as the Slobo v Carla show.
Montenegro to Drop Aim of Independence
Montenegro's president, Milo Djukanovic, is on the verge of abandoning his dream of independence after heavy pressure from the European Union, including the threat of cuts in aid. The republic will remain in a federation with Serbia and take turns to occupy a single seat at the United...
Serb Offer of Bail Help Fails to Entice Trial Suspects to Surrender
The Serbian government is offering to help a group of senior officials who were indicted with Slobodan Milosevic get bail from the Hague, provided they surrender voluntarily.
The "Black Hand"
A self-appointed "guardian of all Serbs", the Serbian state willingly engaged in agitation and confronted both other ethnicities and the Dual Monarchy in its quest to safeguard the well-being, welfare, prosperity and equal treatment of the Serbs, all noble goals, no doubt.
There were few surprises away from Wembley as Turkey, Sweden, Portugal and Serbia all made it to Euro 2008
Corrupt, Maneuvered, Expendable Balkans – Les Liaisons Dangereuses
The good English and French friends of Serbia: the epitome of irresponsibility, the embodiment of immorality, and the paragons of unproven argumentation, unjustified accusations, and baseless indictments.
Law Chief 'delaying Serbian Corruption Case'
Attorney general is using her powers to delay another major overseas corruption case, the Guardian has learned
The Historical Victory of Kosova
2008 Serbia will soon look like 1991 Yugoslavia, and Voivodina and Sanjak will be the next to secede.
EU's Favoured Candidate Wins Serbia Poll
President Boris Tadic, a pro-western liberal, has won a renewed five-year term
'Undertaker' Close to Power in Serbia
A former cemeteries manager known as the undertaker stands his best chance of becoming head of state when Serbia votes tomorrow in a fateful presidential election.
'Undertaker' Has Serbia Within His Grasp
Tomorrow's presidential poll is too close to call· Fears of return to isolation if nationalist is elected
EU Offers Serbs Trade and Travel Deal Before Poll
European governments last night offered Serbia a trade and travel pact in an attempt to secure a victory for a pro-western democrat in this weekend's Serbian presidential election
Kosovans Rally to Demand Independence From Serbia
About 3,000 Kosovans took part in a pro-independence rally in the capital, Pristina, today as their government vowed to break away permanently from Serbia early next year
Killers of Serbian Pm Zoran Djindjic Given 40 Years in Jail
The former commander of a notorious paramilitary unit was today convicted of assassinating Serbia's first democratically elected prime minister, Zoran Djindjic.
From Pariah State to Kitsch Victory: How a Balkan Ballad Showed Europe a New Serbia
Belgrade parties wildly after Eurovision triumph - So glad it was not some war song, admits TV chief
Serbian Alliance Blocks Radicals From Power
Serbia's pro-democratic parties have struck a deal to form a new government that would block the radical ultranationalists from power, Serbian media reported today.
Serbian Leaders Reach Agreement on Pro-western Coalition
EU promises membership talks after last-minute deal - Nationalist Kostunica to remain prime minister
Extreme Nationalist Elected Speaker of Serbian Parliament
Acting PM deserts alliance of democratic forces - Setback to EU hopes of pro-western government
Serbia's Chairmanship of the Council of Europe.
Serbia is taking up chairmanship of the Council of Europe. But why isn't anyone talking about human rights? By George Monbiot
Serbia Jails Death Squad Men for Srebrenica Killings
First Belgrade convictions for 1995 massacre - Defendants condemned by own video evidence
Serbia Prepares for Coalition Tussle
Serbia's future within Europe today remained in the balance after an extreme nationalist party won the most votes in the country's general election.
Nationalists Triumph in Serbian Elections
Extreme nationalists led by a former warlord on trial for crimes against humanity romped to a comfortable victory yesterday in Serbia's most critical general election in years. But the Serbian Radical party's election triumph, six points ahead of their liberal pro-European rivals, left the extremists probably unable to cobble together a coalition government.
Integration or Isolation? Serbs Go to Polls With Rivals Neck and Neck
Serbia goes to the polls on Sunday for a crucial election that could return the pivotal Balkan state to nationalist instability or open up better prospects of integration with the EU and the west.
War Crimes Tribunal Orders Force-feeding of Serbian Warlord
The UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague last night ordered the force-feeding of a Serbian warlord and senior politician who has been on hunger strike in custody for almost a month.
Decision on Kosovan Independence to Be Postponed
· Delay prompted by fears over Serbian nationalism · Proposal to be announced after Belgrade elections
Serb Move May Trigger New War
The prime minister of the Serbian half of Bosnia has called for a referendum enabling the Serbs of Bosnia to secede, an act that could trigger a new war and spell the end of the state of Bosnia.
Serbs at Low Ebb As They Mark Loss to Turks
On the grimmest day in the Serbian calendar, Dejan recalled today the epic defeat more than 600 years ago as freshly as if it occurred within the 25-year-old's living memory.
Europe's Newest State Wins Seal of Approval From Poll Monitors
· Montenegro celebrates despite Serbian protests · Solana dampens down ambition to join EU
Montenegro Confirms Independence
Montenegro's state electoral commission today confirmed the republic would split from Serbia and establish a new independent Balkan state.
Montenegro Vote Finally Seals Death of Yugoslavia
· 56% opt for independence amid huge turnout · Tensions high as leader of pro-Serbia camp cries foul
Montenegro Vote Finally Seals Death of Yugoslavia
· 56% opt for independence amid huge turnout · Tensions high as leader of pro-Serbia camp cries foul
Serbia Cannot Escape Curse of Mladic
If Montenegro were to vote to secede from Serbia at the weekend and finally screw down the coffin lid on the corpse of Yugoslavia, General Ratko Mladic would be an apt choice as pallbearer and gravedigger-in-chief. By Simon Tisdall
EU Punishes Serbia for Mladic's Freedom
· Accession talks cancelled over PM's failure to act · Government on brink of collapse as deputy quits
EU Halts Serbia Entry Talks Over Mladic
The European Union today broke off talks on EU membership for Serbia and Montenegro over Belgrade's failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
EU Tells Serbia: No Mladic, No Entry
The European Union today suspended membership talks with Serbia over its failure to deliver the Bosnian Serb military leader Ratklo Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Mladic is the UN tribunal's second most wanted war crimes suspect from the Yugoslav wars after Radovan...
Serbian War Criminal Kills Himself in Hague Prison
Milan Babic, a central figure in the early stages of the Serbian wars against the rest of Yugoslavia, killed himself at the weekend while detained at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Montenegro Fights to Change Rules for Independence Vote
· EU says referendum needs 55% majority to be valid · Serbian nationalists warn of war if split approved
To Brussels ... Via The Hague
The fate of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general wanted for war crimes, will determine Serbia's future in Europe, writes Ian Black.
EU Warns Serbia Over Mladic
Serbia's EU entry negotiations will be halted unless it fully cooperates with attempts to bring the fugitive war leader General Ratko Mladic to justice, the European commission's head of enlargement warned today.
Serbian General Still 'at Large'
The chief UN war crimes prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, said today that the Serbian General Ratko Mladic "remains at large".
Ashdown Orders New Crackdown in Bosnia
Nine sacked as governor targets Serbian war crimes suspects.
Battle Over the Bridge of Lost Souls
Serbian authorities accused of neglect as monument to massacre of Muslims during war in Bosnia crumbles.
Serbian President's Car Rammed
A vehicle carrying Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, was repeatedly rammed by a car while travelling through Belgrade, his office said yesterday.
Serbia Accused of Blocking War Crimes Trials
British defence officials have conceded that military action to bring Serb and Croat war crimes suspects to trial would probably fail because of the sophisticated support network surrounding them.
'We Can't Forget'
Twelve years ago, Ed Vulliamy first revealed the horrors of Omarska, a Serbian concentration camp in Bosnia, to a stunned world. This summer the survivors returned to the place where they were tortured and raped, their friends and families murdered. He joined them.
Serbian Reformers Toast Victory
A reformist keen on improving relations with the EU and the US was poised last night to become president of Serbia after defeating an ultra-nationalist supporter of Slobodan Milosevic. Boris Tadic, the former defence minister, took 53.5% of the vote, to 45% for Tomislav Nikolic of the...
Serbians Offered Choice Between Past and Future
After 18 months with no head of state Serbia faces a crucial choice tomorrow at the presidential elections, a ballot seen as the country's most important since Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown four years ago. In what is being billed as a choice between the past and the future, Tomislav...
Hardliner Looks Set to Win Poll in Serbia
After 18 months without a head of state, Serbia looks likely to back an extreme nationalist to be president in tomorrow's first-round vote. Tomislav Nikolic, a former undertaker who campaigns for the Greater Serbia project that brought the country four lost wars under Slobodan Milosevic,...
Brazilians capture men's Serbia & Montenegro FIVB Open
After two events of "cashing" second-place checks, top-seeded Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos regained their gold medal form on Sunday (May 30) in capturing the $180,000 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour event for the second title of the 2004 international season.
Nationalist Serb Pm Risks Isolation Abroad
Serbia appeared to be heading for renewed international isolation last night.
Karadzic 'has Safe Haven' in Belgrade
Serbia sheltering 15 war crimes suspects, says Hague prosecutor.
Serb Chief Says Sorry to Croats
Serbian rebel leader from the early stages of the 90s wars in the former Yugoslavia is convicted of ethnic persecution after delivering unprecedented apology to his "brother Croats".
Serb Democrats Urged to Join Forces
Serbia's riven reformist parties were under strong international pressure yesterday to bury their rivalries and agree on a new coalition to try to banish the threat from extremists who emerged strongest from the general election. Stunned by the triumph of the extremist Serbian Radical...
Serbian Election Victory for War Crimes Suspect's Party
Nationalist extremists led by a suspected war criminal in custody in The Hague scored a clear victory in general elections in Serbia yesterday, dealing a huge setback to the prospects for stable democracy and western-oriented policy in the Balkan state. The Serbian Radical party led by...
Serb Leader Says Sorry to Bosnia
Eight years after a war that left more than 200,000 Bosnians dead and 2 million driven from their homes, a Serbian leader visited the Bosnian capital yesterday and for the first time said sorry. Svetozar Marovic, president of the loose union of Serbia and Montenegro, admitted that the...
Kickback claims hit Italian left
Pressure was growing on leaders of the Italian left yesterday over allegations that they took massive kickbacks when Telecom Italia bought a chunk of Telekom Serbia during Slobodan Milosevic's rule.
Atrocity at Bistrica Beach
A gunman's brutal attack on a group of Serbian children swimming in a Kosovan river has plunged the troubled region into further crisis, writes Ian Traynor.
In cold blood
In March 1999, Serbian paramilitaries gunned down 19 women and children in the Kosovan town of Podujevo in a brutal act of ethnic cleansing. Amazingly, five children survived. This week, four of them left their new home in Manchester and travelled to Belgrade to testify against one of the men who is accused of trying to kill them.
Body of Ex-serb President Found
Slobodan Milosevic, the former leader of Yugoslavia, is to be questioned about the murder of a former president of Serbia, whose body was discovered yesterday, three years after he went missing, authorities in Belgrade announced. Ivan Stambolic's body was found in a grave on a mountain in...
Milosevic Ally Pleads Not Guilty at Hague
A Serbian ultra-nationalist and former ally of Slobodan Milosevic today pleaded not guilty to ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars of the early 1990s. Vojislav Seselj, 48, is accused of directing paramilitary troops who allegedly murdered and tortured non-Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia and...
Focus: Death of a Balkan Hero
Serbia's mafia warlords showed they will stop at nothing to protect their criminal empire when they assassinated Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic - burying the country's best chance of escaping from the dark age of Milosevic. Report by Ian Traynor in Zagreb and Dejan Anastasijevic in Belgrade.
Gang Bosses Elude Hunt for Killers of Serbian Pm
As the Serbian authorities were announcing yesterday that they had rounded up some 200 people in connection with the assassination of the prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, there was little sign of life at the green-roofed mansion on Silerova Street. A cobbled lane running between one-storey...
How the West Killed Djindjic
The West killed Serbia's Prime Minister since January 2001, Zoran Djindjic. By forcing him, at times against his better judgment, to surrender one more war criminal, to pursue yet another mobster, to eliminate the remaining subsidies that rendered tolerable the drab and destitute lives of Serbs - the West cast Djindjic as its lackey.
Zoran Djindjic
The murder in Belgrade of the Serbian prime minister Zoran Djindjic has deprived Serbia of its most capable and daring politician. His tireless organisational skills proved absolutely critical at the high point of his career, when the Democratic Opposition of Serbia reform alliance mobilised millions of people to topple the former dictator, Slobodan Milosevic, in October 2000.
Serbian leader assassinated
Two assassins gunned down the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, in broad daylight in the centre of Belgrade yesterday, leaving Serbia leaderless and plunging the Balkans into a bleak and dangerous period of uncertainty.
Serbian Prime Minister Gunned Down in Street
Serbia was under a state of emergency last night after the assassination of its reformist prime minister Zoran Djindjic plunged the Balkans into renewed crisis. A government statement blamed his murder on organised criminals trying to to avert a clampdown on their activities and throw the...
Serbian Pm Shot Dead
· Zoran Djindjic killed in Belgrade
· Two held after shooting
Milosevic's wife to be tried in Belgrade for abuse of office
Mirjana Markovic, the wife of the former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, is to go on trial next week in Belgrade charged with abuse of office. She will be tried with several Milosevic cronies who presided over rampant corruption and embezzlement in the 1990s.
'War Criminals' Blamed for Attack on Serbia's Pm
Former paramilitaries from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s are suspected of Friday's attempt on the life of the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, who narrowly escaped death when a lorry apparently tried to crash into his motorcade. A similarly staged attempt on the life of the...
Memories of Happier Days
Days after the name Yugoslavia was dropped by Serbia and Montenegro, the nostalgia industry is in full swing, writes Ian Traynor.
Hurd's Telecom Privatisation Unravels
A controversial privatisation arranged by the sometime British foreign secretary Lord Hurd with Slobodan Milosevic unravelled yesterday when the Serbian government said it was buying back a hefty share of its national telecommunications network from Italy.
Retiring Serb Leader Faces Tribunal
Indicted war criminal's immunity ends. The Serbian president and alleged war criminal Milan Milutinovic came under pressure yesterday to join his former boss Slobodan Milosevic in the Dutch detention cells of the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
Serbia Heads for Third Invalid Election Result
Bitter weather and bickering keep voters from polls.
Disillusion and Extremism Mar Serbian Election
The nationalist vote may put Kostunica back in power if a low turnout does not invalidate the poll.
Milosevic Tried to Build Greater Serbia, Trial Told
Slobodan Milosevic wanted to carve a "Greater Serbia" out of the ruins of Yugoslavia, the first head of state to testify at the Hague war crimes tribunal said yesterday. Stipe Mesic, the president of Croatia, took over the rotating Yugoslav presidency in July 1991 shortly before Tito's...
Apathy clouds Serbian election
The moderate nationalist Vojislav Kostunica and the western-backed economist Miroljub Labus will face each other in a run-off for the Serbian presidency later this month, but it is feared that apathy could invalidate the election and plunge the country into a constitutional crisis.
Poll Puts Serbs in Line for Power Play
Serbs went to the polls yesterday for the first presidential election since the indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic was toppled two years ago. But far from bringing order to the post-Milosevic mess of politics in Serbia, the election is likely to intensify the struggle between the...
Hurd faces questions on Serbian deal
Italian prosecutors investigating allegations of bribery and embezzlement relating to the privatisation of Serbia's telephone network want to question Lord Hurd, the former Tory Foreign Secretary.
UK targeted in Serb inquiry
Italian investigation into Telekom privatisation puts NatWest Markets in spotlight. Italian fraud investigators looking into allegations of corruption over the part-privatisation of Serbia's telephone monopoly under the Milosevic regime have turned their attention to the UK.
Yugoslavia votes for its own abolition
The Yugoslav parliament yesterday voted to abolish the Balkan federation and replace it with a looser union between its last remaining members, Serbia and Montenegro. The new state is due to be formed by the end of the year.
Serbia and Montenegro in New Union
Europe was celebrating a rare success in the Balkans last night after brokering a new union between Serbia and Montenegro to replace federal Yugoslavia and avoid another war in the continent's troubled south-eastern corner. "We have taken an important step forward for the stability of the...
A nation in denial
Timothy Garton Ash argues that we need a Serbian soap opera as well as the Slobo v Carla show.
Montenegro to Drop Aim of Independence
Montenegro's president, Milo Djukanovic, is on the verge of abandoning his dream of independence after heavy pressure from the European Union, including the threat of cuts in aid. The republic will remain in a federation with Serbia and take turns to occupy a single seat at the United...
Serb Offer of Bail Help Fails to Entice Trial Suspects to Surrender
The Serbian government is offering to help a group of senior officials who were indicted with Slobodan Milosevic get bail from the Hague, provided they surrender voluntarily.
The "Black Hand"
A self-appointed "guardian of all Serbs", the Serbian state willingly engaged in agitation and confronted both other ethnicities and the Dual Monarchy in its quest to safeguard the well-being, welfare, prosperity and equal treatment of the Serbs, all noble goals, no doubt.